Jul
16
Here's the thing.
"Marketing" on social media can generate a lot of heat but no light.
Before all the social media zealots get in touch to rip me limb from limb, let me explain what I mean...
You can use social media websites to communicate with your prospective customers. I can see that.
Indeed, I wholeheartedly approve of the two-way conversation you can encourage using social media websites. It's great. What a shame most hotel marketers spend all their time with their finger on the "transmit" button and never take the opportunity to listen to what prospective customers have to say.
I could talk about the inappropriate things people sometimes say on their Facebook presence, but instead I want to warn in a simple, stark way.
Just like any other method of promotion, it is possible to mistake activity for results. Having hundreds of followers or friends does not automatically mean that you have hundreds of new customers. Ultimately, the result of all the effort you make on social networking websites will be measured by the sales revenue it causes.
The result you need is new customers and their cold, hard cash. There's nothing virtual about the fact that you need to make payroll every month. There's nothing virtual about putting food on the table or a roof over your head. No amount of followers, friends or "likes" will feed you next week.
So, the next time you sit in front of a PC to update your business Facebook profile, take a moment to think about what your objective is. What steps and activities do you need to do in order to get from where you are today to achieving your objective?
If you don't have an objective to guide your online social networking, maybe you would make better use of your time if you switched off your PC this afternoon, dug out a notebook and a pencil and started work on identifying why you need to do this.
"Marketing" on social media can generate a lot of heat but no light.
Before all the social media zealots get in touch to rip me limb from limb, let me explain what I mean...
You can use social media websites to communicate with your prospective customers. I can see that.
Indeed, I wholeheartedly approve of the two-way conversation you can encourage using social media websites. It's great. What a shame most hotel marketers spend all their time with their finger on the "transmit" button and never take the opportunity to listen to what prospective customers have to say.
I could talk about the inappropriate things people sometimes say on their Facebook presence, but instead I want to warn in a simple, stark way.
Just like any other method of promotion, it is possible to mistake activity for results. Having hundreds of followers or friends does not automatically mean that you have hundreds of new customers. Ultimately, the result of all the effort you make on social networking websites will be measured by the sales revenue it causes.
The result you need is new customers and their cold, hard cash. There's nothing virtual about the fact that you need to make payroll every month. There's nothing virtual about putting food on the table or a roof over your head. No amount of followers, friends or "likes" will feed you next week.
So, the next time you sit in front of a PC to update your business Facebook profile, take a moment to think about what your objective is. What steps and activities do you need to do in order to get from where you are today to achieving your objective?
If you don't have an objective to guide your online social networking, maybe you would make better use of your time if you switched off your PC this afternoon, dug out a notebook and a pencil and started work on identifying why you need to do this.
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